Interview with Register of Copyrights and Director of the U.S. Copyright Office Shira Perlmutter, moderated by University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management Chaired Professor Joel Waldfogel
Key takeaways from the panel:
- AI-created digital replicas of real people, often made without consent, are raising significant concerns.
- The Copyright Office maintains that AI-generated content is copyrightable only with significant human involvement. Laws and regulations are being refined to address the complexities of AI-generated works and copyright protection.
- Economic analysis is crucial for understanding the tradeoffs and informing copyright policy decisions in the AI era. It helps evaluate how AI might both promote new forms of creativity and potentially displace existing creators.
- International cooperation is necessary to address AI and copyright challenges. Perlmutter noted the risk of regulatory arbitrage due to differing copyright rules across jurisdictions.
- The Copyright Office grapples with how to handle the question of AI models ingesting copyrighted works for training. It aims to enable efficient AI development while retaining proper incentives for human creativity.
You can watch videos or read full transcripts of each panel, including this one, on TPI’s YouTube channel. Below is a live illustration of this panel provided by graphic artist Karina Branson of CoverSketch. Stay tuned for more panel summaries from 2024’s Aspen Forum!
